Review by Kathleen, age 13 At the end of last week, my close friend and I went to grab a quick bite. We were at Shops at Don Mills, so we walked into Jack Astor's and the people working there greeted us. We were asked to sit down for a...

Review by Leya, age 19 In 2014, when I first read Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, I thought it was amazing, thinking it was a good representation about mental health but, after watching the Netflix series, my opinion changed. I grew up since then of course, I learned stuff,...

Review by Taneya “Deliciously dark, full of secrets and insane twists that make it impossible to put down!” —Jenny McCarthy Author of Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game, and The Good Girls, Sara Shepard comes back with yet another thriller namely, The Heiresses—a novel about the prestigious Saybrooks, a family...

Review by Kinda The movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, featuring main character Tom Holland, is an extraordinary film because of the humour, the unpredictable moments, and because of the diversity. Firstly, the humor provides cohesiveness by keeping the movie going when there are no action scenes, keeping the audience hooked. For example,...

Review by Bridget, age 14 In the futuristic city of Kersh, everyone has a genetic Alternate. An Alternate is basically your twin, but he or she is raised by another family. Anywhere from the age of ten to twenty, you could be assigned to kill your Alt. If you successfully...

Review by Keeirah, age 13 Dreamland is a novel written by Robert L. Anderson. Odea Donahue walked her first dream when she was six years old. Her mom didn't want this to happen. Walking dreams will be fun only IF she follows the three rules her mother told her. Never...

Review by Kimuthu, age 17 Witchlanders is an amazing book that is packed with adventure and action. I have never read a book quite like this one. The names, the magic and the story itself are all very unique and that is what I really like about this book. It...

Review by Eisha, age 13 The movie Spider-Man: Homecoming by Marvel Studios left us wanting for more, for the characters had grown on us, as had the movie's music and sound effects, that fit well in the scenes, and the combat between Spider-Man and his rivals — and, finally, the...

Review by Leya, age 19 I have been on a journey to finding happiness and discovering myself and for so long I felt lost. I didn't know what I wanted, what made me happy. I was so discontent with the way the world worked. I was not happy with my...

Review by Zara, age 13 Stranger Things is the hit Netflix TV series created by the Duffer brothers. The TV show has to be one of Netflix’s best productions and should be binge watched ASAP. The series is filled with all kinds of science fiction and supernatural events all too...

Review by Isha, age 14 Poverty, hydrocephalus, alcoholic dad, and life between the Indian reservation and the all-white new school. A combination which only gets worse for 14-year-old Arnold Spirit, “Junior” after being abandoned by his best friend, earning the title of a traitor, and mourning for the deaths of...

Review by Jm, age 13 Shattered, by Eric Walters depicts the story of a fifteen-year-old boy named Ian Blackburn. He wants to finish his community service hours to pass his social studies class. Ian chooses to work in a soup kitchen for the homeless called “The Club” with Mr. MacDonald...

Review by Leya, age 19 What I loved most about A Court of Thorns and Roses were the conversations, the relationships and the dynamics between the characters. The theme of friendship and love was so heartwarming. Any scenes where the characters were at the dinner table or together laughing and...

Review by Calvin The kingdom of Carthya is on the brink of war against the neighbouring kingdom of Avenia. It is up to Conner, a nobleman to ensure the safety of Carthia by replacing a pacifist king with a militaristic king who would eliminate any potential dangers to the kingdom....

Review by Matt Bungou Stray Dogs is probably one of my favourite animes when it comes to action, superpowers and a good story line. It’s about a boy named Atsushi who was in an orphanage, later kicked out because he had the ability called “Beast Beneath the Moonlight” which turned...

Review by Dayton The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan, takes place in New York. Zeus blames Apollo for causing the war with Gaea, so he makes him a mortal and kicks him out of Mount Olympus. Apollo discovers that he is now a sixteen-year-old boy named...

Review by Laila, age 15 I recently read a coming-of-age book called Murphy’s Boy by Torey L. Hayden. Murphy’s Boy is based on a true story about a boy who suffered from severe child abuse (and Torey L. Hayden is actually a child psychologist in real life.) In this book,...

Review by Jayden Nimona by Noelle Stevenson is a webcomic-turned-graphic novel published by HarperCollins publishers. The world of Nimona is a living entity, woven with magic explained by science and science explained by magic. It’s a subversion of all things fantasy and superpowered; the good guys are evil, the heroes...

Review by Nicole The perfect mystery novel is nearly impossible to create. It should imitate life, and yet have its own unpredictable twists. It should keep you guessing about the crime’s perpetrator, but not without dropping the subtlest hints about who it really is. And when it comes time for...

Review by Sam For me, spring brings with it a few distinctly ‘Mayish’ feelings: the cool refreshment of homemade fruit smoothies, the stress of beginning to pretend to study for exams while watching Netflix instead, and, to guide me into the summer months ahead, a young adult novel to flip...

Review by Samia, age 15 Personally, I would give Legend, by Marie Lu, 4/5 stars because it was exceptional. One of the reasons I thought it was exceptional is because it had a great quantity of suspense and a spectacular emphasis on the emotions of the two main characters. Using...

Review by Aidan Imagine the land of King Arthur, then weave within its past and future a mystical race of sorcerers – the Deryni. This is the land of Gwynedd. It is the year 1120 and Gwynedd has plunged into darkness through the murder of its king, Brion Haldane. Now...

Review by Alexandra Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief is the first book in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians award-winning, fantasy series by Rick Riordan. Twelve-year-old Percy discovers he is a demigod, as his mother is a mortal human and his birth father is Poseidon, immortal god of water....

Review by Jet, age 13 The Penderwicks, though written for a middle grade level, is the type of book you can read over and over again. It portrays four sisters, their galumph-y and affectionate dog, a loving but slightly distant father, and Jeffrey, the mysterious boy who lives near the...

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Everything you need to know about reading, learning, creating and hanging out at Toronto Public Library. Features reviews by staff and by teens. More: tpl.ca/teens